The Punjab Health Department has issued an alert on Wednesday about an allergy medicine that may be harmful to health.
According to the details, the Punjab Drug Testing Laboratory found a specific batch of the medicine Hirazine 10mg to be below the required quality standards.
The Directorate of Drug Control and the Punjab Provincial Quality Control Board have ordered the immediate removal of the affected batch from the market.
What are the details of the medicine?
The affected medicine is Hirazine 10mg (Cetirizine Dihydrochloride 10mg).
The affected batch number is HZT214, and its expiry date is December 2027.
The medicine is manufactured by M/s Unison Chemical Works, located on Raiwind Road in Lahore.
The health department has advised citizens and patients to stop using batch HZT214 immediately, as it may be harmful to health.
Pharmacies, medical stores and hospitals have also been directed to stop selling the affected medicine.
They have been asked to provide details of their available stock to the relevant drug inspector.
The pharmaceutical company has been ordered to immediately recall all medicines from batch HZT214 from the market. It must also submit a complete report to the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan.
‘Azomax’ medicine declared fake
Recently, the Drug Control Punjab declared the medicine ‘Azomax’ as counterfeit.
Punjab’s drug authorities issued a Class-I alert after laboratory tests found four batches of a medicine to be counterfeit or below the required quality standards.
According to the Drugs Control Department, the affected medicines were reportedly supplied by unauthorised sellers. They were being sold as products made by legitimate pharmaceutical companies.
Officials said initial laboratory tests showed that the medicine did not meet the required quality standards. The batches were therefore declared counterfeit or substandard.
Following the findings, authorities ordered the immediate recall of the affected batches. They also stopped their sale and started inspections to recover any remaining stock from the market.